This was fascinating to read. Would be interested to hear how industrialisation solidified homophobic laws, if that’s something you’d be able/happy to share. (But no worries if not!)

You can always start with an idea. It could be a detective novel. But there’s nothing stopping you from mixing it with romance, travel, horror and whatever. To me, the best books are kinda impossible to categorize.

oh thank you so much !! i’ll look more into it

You could always start with a very general term like Speculative Fiction since you appear to be speculating a fair amount. You can get more specific as you get closer to completion.

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My best friend passed away suddenly a few years ago. I struggle with expressing my emotions, and I was still in shock when the funeral happened, and I hadn't cried. His dad was there and i was doing my best to hold my shit together. Anyway... that bastard had made his funeral plan already and the reading (read by a very confused and very elderly friend of the family) was vogon poetry. I've never ugly cried more in my life, and it is strangely one of my fondest memories.

I loved my friend so much and I miss him every day. He he was able to hit me right in the feelings with his wit, charm, and nonsense one last time.

I love David Mitchell, though the Bone Clocks doesn't come close to Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and The thousand autumns for me. I liked it better than Number 9 Dream though.

It just felt a little less focused and the fantasy-elements where a tad too much for my taste. But all in all, Holly, Crispin and Hugo where great characters and the last part was so bittersweet, it gutted me. So all in all still great novel.

Ghostwritten pulled me through a very dark time in my life, I listened to the audiobook every night when I couldn't sleep because my mind was spiraling. When I finished I restarted the next day. So aside from being better in a literary and technical sense in my opinion, Ghostwritten will always hold a very special place in my heart.

thanks for sharing!

Ah sorry, I didn't know about that. I don't use Reddit a lot anymore.

Should I delete my post then?

Its actually Neuromancer, that has that effect. Everything is written in "future slang" so you have no idea what is going on but also know exactly what they mean.

In Philippines

Which country ?

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My favourites are:

Number 9 Dream - it just has so much narrative drive and youthful enthusiasm. The main character really felt real to me. And I loved the experimentation with style/genre in each section. Not a big fan of the Goat Writer stuff, but it's not a deal breaker.

Black Swan green - Being from the Midlands in the UK this had a lot of nostalgia for me. I liked how down to earth it was and how that would contrast with some of Mitchell's more unusual choice of metaphor. Plus Hugo Lamb was a great antagonist I was very glad to see reappear.

Thousand Autumns - Just a big wonderful beast of a book. He manages to get the bygonese perfectly, striking the balance between it feeling viably old whilst still being readable. it's incredibly well researched, and the setting is fascinating. I managed to visit Dejima when I went to Japan, and I never would have known about it without the book. Plus I think this is where we first meet Marinus.

This is how men are in India today. Though I guess it will begin to change soon as we ‘westernize.’

An unwritten book has no genre.

I have never heard of that, but thanks! I’ll look into it!

Depends what you're after. Ghost written is his first book, and he hasn't quite landed his style yet, but it has great characters and moments. It's essentially a book of linked short stories on a theme.

If you prefer something with more narrative coherence then Number 9 Dream could be good. Set in Japan, strong plot but also some beautiful writing. Maybe my favourite.

His most down to Earth novel is Black Swan Green. Set in small town England following a key point in life of a boy with a stammer (quite autobiographical). Introduces a cool character who's key in Bone Clocks.

Later books like Bone Clocks and Utopia Avenue are great, but do build heavily on what's gone before, so I'd recommend reading some earlier stuff first. That said, if the blurb to any of them appeal you can certainly just go ahead and read them - they wont be incomprehensible., and it might be fun to go back and see where characters started.

Enjoy!

Oh, really? I guess that makes sense. I read somewhere that you should know the genre of your book before you even start writing it. thanks tho :) you have taken some stress off me

No you don't. You need to write it first before worrying about the genre.

Probably "Fantasy of manners".

That's very kind. Thank you very much.

I read these as well, and actually did not like them that much personally, however it could just be that I got a bit confused and would benefit from re-reading them at some point.

Ghostwritten and Bone Clocks are my two personal favs! Maybe try out Ghostwritten first, as it's a bit shorter, so if you start and don't like it it's a bit less of a commitment if that makes sense :)

So, if the Greeks didn't understand it as being homosexual why would Paul who lived in that culture?

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